Tot Watch: Liv Tyler Comes to the Aid of Crying Kiddie

Wonderwall, Thursday, June 18, 2009, 1:28pm (PDT)

By Kat Giantis

It's a dilemma most of us have probably faced at one time or another: Should you get involved when you see a parent or caregiver yelling at a crying child? For Liv Tyler, the answer is definitely yes. On Wednesday, paparazzi captured the actress as she confronted an older woman who was allegedly being less than motherly (or, in this case, grandmotherly) to a bawling toddler.

Liv, who is mom to 4-year-old son Milo, was driving solo in Los Angeles when she saw the woman hollering and swatting the stroller-bound tyke on the chest, according to X17Online.com, which says she immediately braked, made a U-turn and hopped out to give the lady a piece of her mind (see pictures of their heated finger-pointing here).

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"You can't do that!" she reportedly told the woman. "I'm going to call the police. I'm going to call child services!"

But there was apparently a language barrier, because the ostensible babysitter repeatedly replied, "No entiendo" ("I don't understand").

Tyler was snapped bending over to console the distressed tot before heading back to her car, looking visibly upset.

"When I saw that, I couldn't take it," she told the shutterbugs. "I had to do something."

When we contacted Liv's rep for comment, he confirmed X17's account of the incident.

This appears to be an example of the statuesque star putting her passion for child advocacy into immediate action: She's been a UNICEF ambassador since 2003.

Moving on to happier ankle-biter news, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber are introducing their two sons to the joys of being environmentally conscious. While taking in the sights during a trip to Israel, the family made a stop at the Jewish National Fund Park on Saturday to plant a pistachio sapling (see the adorable pics here).

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"This particular area is called Galilee," the actor explained to Hello magazine. "And in this area, approximately 750,000 trees were destroyed in missile attacks. So what we are doing here today is called Project Renewal."

Moving on from renewal to revamping, little Mercy James will soon say goodbye to her orphanage in Malawi and hello to Madonna's opulent New York City mansion, but just how luxurious will the tyke's new life be?

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The London Sun claims the Big M, in attempt to ensure Mercy's surroundings will be as well-appointed as possible, has tapped GOOP-spreading pal Gwyneth Paltrow to oversee the design process.

"Gwyneth has a home in the Hamptons area of New York and Madonna was so impressed with her daughter Apple's room that she asked Gwyneth to help her kit out Mercy's new bedroom," says a source. "Madge wants Mercy to feel like a little princess when she arrives."

Problem is, the room will supposedly be filled with so many do-not-touch items that the 4-year-old cutie will likely be in a constant state of anxiety. Among the purported playthings due to decorate the room: porcelain dolls (breakable), antique teddy bears (beheadable), leather-bound children's books (stainable) and ancient maps of Africa (rippable).

Madonna is also said to have drawn up plans for a mini-Georgian-style tree house for Mercy and her new brother, David, because, after all, preschoolers can't get enough of neoclassical architecture.

As for Mercy's wardrobe, it's apparently not going to be all that spillage friendly, with plenty of dry-clean-only numbers such as cashmere sweaters and silk tunics.

But the paper says Madonna's always-stylish daughter Lourdes, 12, who has also reportedly been contributing to the décor design, is adding some more appropriate togs to her new sister's closet.

"She's really looking forward to having a little girl in the house she can care for," shares the insider. "She's bought piles of leggings, hipster T-shirts, tutus and trainers for the new arrival."